Desert Rose
by Mayet
Summary: Planet of the Dead AU, What if the wormhole had reached a bit further than the Doctor thought? Say, for example, a different dimension. Sort of Reunion fluff, 10/Rose,mentions of 10.5/Rose


**Desert Rose**

**Fandom: Doctor Who**

**Spoilers: Planet of the Dead**

**Pairings: Ten/Rose, mentions of 10.5/Rose**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or Buckingham Palace. Both fortunately and unfortunately, I don't own David Tennant either(or he would've never been permitted to leave DW). I'm against slavery, but still, I can't help but think that it would be nice… but no, bad Mayet, bad! ;P**

**Summary: What if the wormhole reached a bit further than the Doctor imagined. Say, for example, into a different dimension.**

**Desert Rose**

"We came through this!" the Doctor exclaimed, picking up a handful of sand, and throwing it into the air. Less than two meters away it semmed to hit an invisible wall, which started to sway when it was hit by the grains of sand. It looked a lot like a pond, into which you threw a couple of stones. The Time Lord could hear quite a few gasps around him, although not from the dark-haired woman who had asked for his name. Funny, how he was already attuned to her. He hadn't even known her for longer than 10 minutes. And she seemed strangely calm about all of this. Maybe she was used to being in tight spots. Or maybe she was in denial. All this was running through the Doctor's head as he explained to the bus driver, why they couldn't cross back through the wormhole.

Unfortunately, the man would not listen.

"NO!" the Doctor shouted as he ran after the man, trying to stop him, but it was too late.

They watched him burn, until there was nothing left but bones, and cinder…

The Doctor was cursing in gallifreyan underneath his breath, angry that he hadn't been able to save the poor man when he heard it. When he felt it. A shift in the melody, and a twist in the fabric of reality. Something was coming through the wormhole, intact. Or, well, as intact as anything could come through a wormhole. Even in the TARDIS that would be a bumpy ride, more so than usual.

"Something is coming through," the Time Lord announced to the shocked group of humans. "Get out of the way!"

As his voice grew louder, the bunch of 'stupid apes' woke up. The whole group made a wild dash to get some distance between themselves, and the wormhole. They could see it now, just as clearly as if the Doctor had thrown another fist of sand into it. It was wavering, the invisible 'pond' was 'swaying', the circles getting bigger, and bigger, until a big black SUV suddenly emerged from it's confines. It had scratches all over the varnish, the roof had almost been ripped off, and the panes had broken into a million pieces.

Except for one.

"The window had been open!" the Doctor all but shrieked, recognizing the SUV as one of the Torchwood models, fearing for his friends now working with Jack. The time traveller rushed over, hoping against hope that the passenger(s) was/were still alive. Once he reached the window at the driver's seat, he stopped dead in his tracks, just as his hearts seemed to refuse giving another beat. There, burried underneath vast amounts of shards, bloody scratches covering every bit of not-leather-clad skin, lay a female humanoid. Her light brown hair had lost all it's bleach-blonde, but the face was still the same.

The face he would recognize anywhere. Anywhen (even in a million years).

"Rose," he whispered, and the name, unwittingly fallen from his lips, made him jump into action. Quickly, he reached inside, feeling for a pulse. Praying. Praying. Praying to all those deities he's never believed in. "Come on!"

Desperately hoping…no pulse.

"NO!" the Doctor crioed loudly. He could not accept this. Rose, his Rose could not be gone. She must not be gone. It was impossible, he could not comprehend it. And so he sobbed, finally letting the tears fall that he had surpressed for so long. Ever since he lost her the first time. The second time had been his own fault, and at least he had been able to appease himself with the fact that she was happy. Living a life day after day, the adventure the Other Him could have right along with her. But now, now she was gone, forever. Afterlife was the one place he could not follow her to. "Rose…"

"David…?" a soft voice asked.

The Doctor's eyes ripped open. Rose's own hazel-brown eyes were looking up at him, slightly unfocused.

"David? That's your name then?" the dark-haired woman asked from behind him. How long had she been standing there.

"No, no… It must be my cl… bother's, my brother's name…" the Doctor shrugged as he carefully lifted a slightly disoriented Rose out of the car.

"How can you not know your brother's name?" one of the boys asked, the Doctor didn't know which one, and didn't bother answering.

"Rose…Oh, Rose…"

Rose was shaking her head a bit in his embrace as if trying to clear it. The Doctor lowered them both to the sandy ground, settling his Rose into his lap, and craddling her battered body to his almost desperately(thankfully, the humans had decided to stay quiet, and give them this moment). And a little bit to tightly as it turned out when she whimpered, and pressed her face into the crook of his neck. The Time Lord mumbled an apology as he let up a bit, but his grip stayed frim. He was not going to let her go, not until he had to, and since there was probably no way to send her back, that wouldn't be until the end of her ridiculously short human lifespan- or until she rejected him when she realized who he was.

"David…?" she asked again.

"No. No, sorry, Rose. David is… far away." It broke his hearts to hear her yearning for him, and yet not him. Just as it broke his hearts that he had to break hers.

Wait, hers?

That's when he realized it for the first time. Their hearts were beating in perfect sinc. His hand flew up, two fingers feeling at her pulse point, but there was still nothing. Yet, there she was. In his arms, talking, breathing. So very much alive! As if unsure of his own body, his hand moved to press against his own neck, and, just as he expected, there was no pulse there either. One heart beats while the other contracts equals no pulse (1).

Which would mean…

Two hearts.

Rose had two hearts.

Rose was a Time Lady.

With two hearts.

"Rassilon!" the Doctor murmured, looking down at the woman in his arms again. She was 'waking' from her dizziness, her eyes slowly finding focus. Surely, she could see him now in clarity, and realized the implications of what had happened. She was a Time Lady, she would feel that she wasn't in the same universe anymore as before. Hopefully, she wouldn't be too heartbr…heartsbroken. He couldn't watch her cry because of him again.

"Doctor?" her voice suddenly asked.

"Yes, Rose. It's me. I'm here… I'm sorry," he added after a few seconds._ I'm so sorry._

"_What for? The Bad Wolf?"_ she asked- no, she didn't ask, not out loud; she thought! Rassilon, she thought to him! -, confused but smiling. And crying. No, no, no, no, no, please. He couldn't watch her cry over him again. He didn't deserve her tears. He didn't deserve her love, or even her hatred. Whatever emotion she granted him with, he didn't deserve it. He deserved nothing but cold indifference from her. Just as he was about to tell her so, she opened her mouth to speak again, and he was captivated. _"I've waited a hundred years for this…a hundred years after David...died... I knew it was impossible, but I just couldn't give up hope. The last two Time Lords in existence, separated by the Void forever- even the multi-verse couldn't be that cruel. So I waited, and hoped, and here you are. I'm so happy. I just can't stop crying."_

The Doctor was shocked to say the least.

"Rose…" he whispered, incredulous. _"Oh, Rose…"_

"_Still,I can't help but wonder, why didn't you tell me. Why leave me with David and my family when you knew I had to watch them grow old and die. Where you trying to teach me a lesson?" _Suddenly her mental voice was bitter.

"_Oh, but Rose, I didn't. Know, I mean. I had no idea. The TARDIS never said. I didn't know, I'm so sorry…Oh, Rose…My Rose…"_

He pressed her body to his again, kissed her forhead desperately, and burried his face into her hair.

Someone cleared their throat. It was the dark-haired woman, the Doctor noted without looking.

Of course. For them they had been doing nothing but staring at each other for minutes.

He turned to her, shaking his head a bit. The look in his eyes pleading, begging, he mouthed to her: 'give us this moment'

33333333333333333333333333333

"We don't count," the Time Lord told the UNIT officer, holding up his psychic paper as he walked past the man with Rose in tow- her hand firmly in his, he was never going to let go. He could hear the dark-haired woman- Lady Christina de Souza- call after him, but she was immediately redirected towards some of UNIT's scientist, to check for any diseases or dangerous radiation. The Doctor only stopped infront of who he thought was Captain Erisa Magambo.

They were about to have a very short debrief of sorts when a man in a white coat walked up to them, and hugged the Doctor tight, claiming that he loved the Time Lord. Said alien could hear Rose giggle beside him, warning him that she would only look the other way this one time as he 'cheated'. He couldn't help but laugh mentally at that thought as he reciprocated Malcom's gesture. After all, the man was a genius.

"Well, Doctor, I'm saluting you- and Dame Tyler- whether you like it or not," Erisa told them, making the Doctor less than happy, while Rose tried to stiffle her laughter. "Oh, and…I have something for you, Doctor."

She turned to give a sign to two of her men. They lifted an awning, and forth came the TARDIS in all it's Little-Blue-Box-glory.

"Oh, look at you. Better than an old bus anyday," the Doctor exclaimed joyously, practically running towards it, and dragging Rose with him, because he was so not letting her go. Stroking the exterior of his beautiful ship with his free hand, he let the appreciative, and slightly smug hum of the 'old girl' wash over him, even so it was practically telling him: 'you better be nice to me after I did this for you'.

"Hello, old girl," Rose greeted their Magic Carpet, earning herself a 'welcome back' hum, and a happy purr.

"Oi, you're never that nice to me!" the Doctor complained.

Captain Magambo thought that to be the best moment to intercede, before the Doctor would be completely lost in his argument with his ship.

"She was found in the gardens of Buckingham Palace."

"Oh, I hope she didn't mind," Rose mumbled, while the Doctor still glared at his ship.

The Captain smiled gently.

"So, I have three dead stingray-like creatures to sort out. I don't suppose there's a possibility that you're gonna help us with the paperwork?!" she half-asked, half-stated.

The Doctor and Rose looked at each other.

"Not a chance," they said in unision.

"Thought so. Well, until next time, then," Erisa chuckled, shaking hands with both of them.

The Doctor and Rose exchanged another look, before falling into each other's arms laughing. A minute into the hug, the Doctor decided to lift the light-weight that was his companion up, and swing her around much to everyone's amusement. The brown-haired Time Lady laughed at this, and drew him in for a kiss the second he set her down. Now this earned them an applause, and a round of good-natured laughter from every member of UNIT present. It was a sweet kiss, sweet and short, but perfect nonetheless. They separated not a moment to soon, seeing as Christina came running up to them a second later.

"I guess, asking you if I could come with you would be futile," she told them.

The Doctor nodded.

"We need a bit of time alone…together," he said, then frowned. "Does that make sense?"

"I get the drift," Christina smiled at them.

"Thank you for understanding," Rose smiled back. "But, who knows, we might run into you again."

Christina's smile turned rueful.

"Not unless you land in a prison."

The pair infront of her laughed.

"You'd be surprised how often we end up imprisoned," Rose informed her.

"Not on Earth, though, usually. Well, not on contemporary Earth," the Doctor added thoughtfully.

Christina was about to say something when the police emerged from behind the TARDIS, telling her how she had the right to remain silent and all that, while putting her in handcuffs. Rose frowned a bit. Lady Christina de Souza had helped saving them all today, and now she was arrested because of it. She could've been anywhere by now, if that wormhole hadn't interfered. The Time Lady turned to her Doctor to tell him thus, only to find him in a conversation with Carmen, the gifted woman warning him to be careful.

"You be careful, because your song is ending, sir. It is returning, it is returning through the Dark. And then... oh, but then... he will knock four times."

The Doctor looked worried for a moment, but then his face cleared up once he felt Rose squeez his hand, and hug his arm tightly, pressing her body into it.

"Thank you for your concern, Carmen, but you need not worry. No matter what happens, as long as Rose is with me, my song is only just beginning;" he told her grinning.

Then, as if he'd read Rose's mind- which, coming to think of it, was quite likely the case- he pulled out his sonic screwdriver, and freed their newest friend from th eclutches of the police, so that she could escape in their flying bus. Smiling at each other, and especially at the confused face of the Police officer when they promised him they'd just 'arrest' themselves by stepping inside that 'ploce box', the two of them were off.

Into Time, and Space.

Forever.

**End of Desert Rose!**

**A/N: Here it is. My shippified version of 'Planet of the Dead'. I just can't help it. I love Ten/Rose, I think they belong together. Still, 10.5 deserves a happy life as well. I mean, come on, he got rid of the Daleks for us, saved the world. Maybe the method wasn't the best choice, but he still deserves some credit. Therefore, I gave him a Rose-filled life as well. But enough of my ramblings...**

**I hope you enjoyed reading this story, and please leave a review!**

**(1) I'm not an expert in biology, or medicine. So, if that explanation is wrong, I'm sorry I couldn't come up with something better. Please bear with me, and let's just say it works in the Whoniverse. Okay? Thank you.**


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